November Happenings
by InfiniteAnaleigh
Summary: November, a seventeen year old girl, is stuck in a world controlled by aliens. Follow her as she meets Wanderer, Melanie, and Ian, tries to gain back her world, and finds much, much more. based off of the Host by Stephenie Meyer. R&R Please!
1. New Beginnings

THIS STORY IS ABOUT **THE HOST** BY STEPHENIE MEYER **NOT** TWILIGHT. it contains spoilers since it begins a few days after the Host ends.

Disclaimer: I own some characters but most of the characters, world, plot belong to Stephenie Meyer :

**November Happenings  
**By Analeigh Sbrana

I hadn't expected to meet so many humans all at once. I couldn't remember the last time I was in the same room with fifty-nine humans. _Alive. _When Nate had told us about the others they had found—and how big their group was I didn't really believe it. No, not really that I _didn't,_ more that I _couldn't_ believe that so many had survived.I hadn't expected to be so nervous upon meeting them all. When Nate had told us that we were going to all make a trek over to their hide out the following week May and I couldn't help but squeal. She was excited about the prospect of meeting new boys, but I was honestly more curious about the fact that they had another one like Burns.

I figured there was definitely an interesting story behind this other soul-turned-human, Burns certainly had one, and I was interested in stories she might have of other planets. I know almost every other human on this planet would cringe at the thought of talking civilly to a parasite, but Burns was honestly one of my best friends, and I figured she couldn't be so bad if the other human pack had taken her in.

May and I had spent hours ruffling through our meager share of clothes, trying on outfits we had worn a hundred times before, but looking at them in new angles in the shard of a mirror hanging on our wall. Of course, the mirror was so dirty I would hardly know what I looked like if May wasn't my identical twin. Since the previous week was our birthday (seventeen at last!) we had each received a few gifts. My favorite by far, was a book Burns had managed to find for me. It was an interesting one from _before_ called The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. But, my second favorite gift was the one I got from May. She had somehow managed to acquire enough material to make me a jean vest with different colored patches all over it. The best part was my name sewn on the back in green lettering "_Novel_". I couldn't wait to show it off to this new crowd.

Our group traveled in groups of four that night. We couldn't risk anything bigger, it would be too slow and there was a bigger chance of being spotted that way. My group was second to last to go. A man from the other set of survivors came to be May, Rachel, and mines guide. Although, Rachel was not happy about that, hating the fact that she couldn't be the leader in _everything_.

After walking a good one a half hours straight the man (I couldn't remember his name and was too embarrassed to ask) stopped. "I am going to have to blind fold you girls from here on out. But don't worry, where we stay is not much farther." I could see that Rachel was about to protest this so I spoke up "It's okay Rachel, you know that we would do the same." She couldn't deny that fact so she kept her mouth shut. We linked hands once the blindfolds were secure and we started walking.

A good fifteen minutes later we heard a squeal of "more are coming! There are more!" and heard the sound of small pitter-pattering feet. _There are children here? _I thought with disbelief. It had been so long since I had seen human children and I yearned at the thought of my little sister who I would never see again. May squeezed my hand and I knew she was feeling the same pain as I. Soon the children weren't the only voices I heard and we made a stop. Brandt--_I remembered his name _told us we could now take our blindfolds off. The moment my eyes were uncovered I gasped. We were standing in a big circular room with stars above us. Surrounded by people. _Human_ people.

When I saw the excited smile on May's face I knew that mine matched hers almost perfectly. We had never been allowed to meet any of the new people Nate and the others found. We had always been "too young" but now that we were seventeen they couldn't deny us the right. After all Sebastian had been able to meet Max's group and he was only fifteen! The moment the blindfold came off I saw Burns walking towards us, "I'm glad you girls were able to make it alright. No incidents?"

"No Burns, we were fine. Juts like I told you we would be." I teased him. He was the main reason our tribe was so protective over us girls.

He smiled, not abashed at all, "come on. There's someone I want you to meet." I knew immediately that he was talking about the other soul…or should I say souls, I keep forgetting about the other one Even mentioned for some reason. May tagged along behind us although I knew she wasn't as interested in stories as me.

When Burns stopped in front of her at first I was surprised. She was so…young and little. She couldn't have been more then sixteen and she was even smaller then May and I who were only 5'2'. But I immediately realized that although her frame was small she had a big personality. When she saw us she immediately gave us a big smile, "Hi! I'm Wanderer, but you can call me Wanda, everyone does, and this is my partner Ian." I knew he was her partner from the way his arm was held around her shoulders possessively. It wasn't a scary possessive just… absolute. Like Even and Rachel were. I checked May's face out of the corner of my eye and saw that she had a slightly wistful expression; she wanted a relationship like that so badly.

"I'm November, but you can call me Novel, everyone does, and this is my sister May." We both smiled at the similar reply I give.

"Novel? How did you get that nickname?"

Everyone asks this question, I suppose it is kind of a strange name. "I guess its because I read so much." I reply.

May snorts from beside me, "hah! More like reads _too_ much."

I grimace, but Wanda giggles. I laugh on the inside at this because, well, she just _looks_ like a giggler.

"Anyway, are you girls hungry? We have cheetoes!" she seems more excited about cheetoes then a normal person should be. But then, who's normal anymore? May answers for us this time "I am, a bit. And cheetoes do sound pretty good right now."

"Well then, come on!" she all but dances her way to the snack table. As we are following her I fall in step with Burns. "What do you think?" he asks me. I can tell he's honestly curious about my reaction to meeting another one of his kind on non dangerous terms.

"She's so different from you."

"Well, that's to be expected. Our human bodies influence us very much and each one is different."

"Yeah I know that…but for some reason I pictured her as your female equivalent. I didn't have a…_May_ equivalent in mind." The fact that she was similar to May was definitely not a bad thing, just different to how I pictured. "Of course, I'm glad she's not like you. There's only so much Burns Living Flowers a girl can handle."

He chuckled quietly at my joke knowing full well that he was one of my favorite people in the world. Although Burns was at least eight years older then me (by human years) he was my best friend besides May. He first came to our tribe almost exactly two years ago. I remember because it was a week before my birthday. Rob, Even, and Blake had captured him on their way home from a raid in Yuma. He was literally wandering the dessert. Well, not wandering, more of a walking with purpose, although he was almost dead of dehydration.

No one is sure to this day why Rob and them hadn't killed him immediately. But all of us our definitely glad they didn't. Burns had run away from his calling as a librarian. Of course that was the perfect job for him, but he said he didn't fit in with the rest of society. He explained that his human emotions had more control over him then they did on everyone else. He couldn't hear his host like the other soul he met told him she could, but his emotions would overpower him so strongly that when he felt sad he would literally just break down in tears. Something I could never imagine him doing, he was the strongest person I knew, and certainly had never cried in front of me.

When Rob, Even, and Blake found him they said he had run out of water and food and was lying on the ground squeezing his backpack…which was full of books. They said they couldn't kill someone, even a parasite, who was holding onto something so human. They said that's how they knew he was different. Most of the other souls who occupied human's bodies didn't care about books, only those who were studying human history in school or those designated as authors cared about the human books.

Burns said that when he heard he was to be a librarian at first he was disappointed (he told us even that emotion was strange for a soul to feel). But once he started reading the books in his library he couldn't stop. All the emotions he was reading about were the ones he was feeling and it didn't make him feel so alone. Until he couldn't handle it any more and up and ran away. And that's how Burns ended up at my side munching on an apple at this…party.

For I could see now that it was a party, something I wasn't even good at _before_. Even when I was little I wasn't very good at interacting with other people. I always replied on May to make introductions and she usually ended up talking for me. That's why I enjoyed books so much, because in them I could be brave and go on wild adventures without actually having to leave my seat. When _they_ came and I had to actually run for my life I realized that I couldn't always be so paralyzed by fear. I'm positive that if I hadn't learned how to initiate anything on my own then I would not be here today. Instead I would be some…zombie. Although, I still sucked at parties.

I looked around for May and realized that she was already in a conversation with three girls who looked to be in there early twenties. I caught eyes with Burns and sighed. He wasn't very social either. I nodded my head toward May and silently communicated that I was going to go join the conversation. "Wanna come?" I asked him although I knew he wasn't going to voluntarily stand in a circle of five girls. He shook his head, "naw. I think I'm going to go…find Blake or someone." _Someone he already knew _I finished silently for him.

The three girls May were talking to were named Heidi, Trudy, and Lilly. I noticed that Lilly was very beautiful but also very sad. When I walked up to them I was met with surprise, "oh, twins!" Heidi exclaimed.

"This is my sister Novel, short for November" I smiled in response to their hellos and introductions. The way May chattered on I could tell that she already liked these girls. And that made me happy. I wasn't exactly listening to their conversation until I heard May giggle with excitement.

"…is very cute!" May finished.

_Who was?_

"Yeah, but trust us, Brandt isn't that nice." said Heidi.

"Yeah I could kind of tell, he barely said a word to us on the way over here!" said May.

"Oh, don't take it personally, honey. He's like that with everyone when he first meets them." Said Lilly.

"Oh, bull!" interjected Trudy, "I've known him for four years and he still hasn't said a word to me!" they burst into a fit of giggles, all but Lilly who just smiled sadly. At this time an older man I hadn't met yet started to bang his spoon on a glass he held in his hand—_actual glass!_

"Quiet. Quiet I say! Now this is my house and when I say quiet I mean be quiet!" at first I thought he was being mean, until I saw all the smiling faces of his tribe pointed at him and noticed the literal twinkle in his eye. Everyone did quiet down, though maybe it was the shotgun he had in a sling on his back.

"Firstly, I wanna thank my very honored and very welcome guests here tonight!" there was a faint smattering of applause. "No, really though. I can't tell you how happy I am to gain the knowledge that so many humans are left, to know that we now have a fighten' chance ta' take back what is rightfully ours." More applause and a few woops. I look around to try and gauge Burns reactions to this speech but I couldn't see him.

I nervously finger a loose thread on my vest as I absently listen to the rest of the old guys speech. I guess that he's the leader for these people like Nate is for ours. I cant help noticing the difference though. Whereas Nate is perhaps 35 at most and at least 6 feet this guy had to be at least 50 and probably 5'5' at most…and if I can hear what he's saying correctly, obviously a little crazy. But crazy can be good in these times. Crazy is probably what's kept him and his people alive.

I continue to scan all of these new faces greedily. I hadn't realized how much I wanted this, to be able to just _see_ new people. Everyone looked so interesting and I'm sure everyone has a story to tell. Different stories too, I'm sure Lilly's will be sad and Trudy's funny, yet not necessarily happy. And then I wonder, _does any human have a __**happy**__ story to tell anymore? _The only happy stories I know of anymore all come from books.

But this is sort of happy isn't it? All of us finding each other. Maybe one day we can even find a way to get all the other tribes together too. But I couldn't see how we could manage that without being spotted by the seekers. I shudder at the though of them.

All twenty-two of us are lead to another cave (I realized that this was a series of caves like our home, only three times as big) to sleep. It was the early ours of the morning and I was tired, the long walk plus the socializing seriously wore me out. I had the chance to meet everyone, even the crazy old man, Jeb, who was actually really nice. We were pleasantly surprised to see a collection of mattresses and bed rolls stacked along one wall.

"Definitely beats sleeping on the ground, huh Novel?" said May as she skipped beside me into the room.

"Definitely." I reply.

There weren't enough mattresses and bedrolls for everyone to each have one, so May and I had to share, but we didn't mind. Burns pulled his bedroll beside our mattress and sank down beside me.

"Man, I am beat." Burns said sleepily.

"Me too." I mumbled right back at him. But I could feel May trembling beside me.

"How can you two be tired? I am sooo awake! All these people! All these new people with so many possibilities!" May sing-songed.

I grimaced at Burns and mock rolled my eyed at my twin's excitement.

She swatted me "don't roll your eyes at me!"

"I didn't!" I lied.

"Yes she did May. Don't trust her." Said Burns laughing.

I gasp in mock outrage.

"Of course I don't trust her. She's Novel. You can't trust Novel."

We all chuckled quietly at that. They knew they could trust me. Just like I knew I could trust them. All twenty-two of us trusted each other every single day of our lives. We were family. For most of us, the only family we had left.

As I close my eyes I have to admit to myself that this does open up new and exciting possibilities. And that Brandt _was_ cute.


	2. Dream of Soccer

November Happenings

By Infinite Analeigh

-A Dream of Soccer.

That night, like almost every night, I dreamt a montage of events leading up to the  
takeover. Well, it wasn't so much of a 'takeover', more of an 'infiltration'. At first we hadn't even noticed that our parents weren't our parents anymore. We recognized small changes, but there wasn't even anything major _for_ us too recognize. Our little sister Lilly stopped being late for school, even though my mother had brought her late her whole first grade career. And then, my dad stopped writing, stopped drinking coffee, and stopped wearing his robe all day.

Honestly, May and I both thought these were good things. Then, one day Lilly brought her friends over, and instead of playing dolls or house like usual they sat around our kitchen table and talked with our mom. Throughout the day whenever I would enter the kitchen they would all fall silent and look at me with solemn faces. Frankly, I was a bit creeped out by all the serious little six year olds staring at me.

That same night May and I stayed out later then we were allowed to at our best friend's house. I vividly remember sitting on Emilee's bedroom floor. As usual they were talking about Everitt, the "cutest" boy at our school, while I read in the corner of her room. At that time, well actually my whole 6th grade year, I had had a crush on a tall, fellow bookworm, named Levi, but I was too embarrassed to tell them.

Emilee's mom had always been eccentric. She had never made us milk and cookies and often wore overalls, with nothing underneath them, while she painted. I can still hear the sound of Emilee's door squeak open when her mom came in. She was wearing a flowered print dress, a light smattering of make up, and her hair was perfect. May and I looked at each other with surprise at the new Mrs. Avery as Emilee grimaced.

"Emilee, I think its time for May and Novel to go home, their mother just called."

"Did she sound mad?" I asked with worry. We both new we had stayed out past our curfew but we had delayed going home as long as we could.

"Oh, no. Of course not dear." That, more than anything else, is what shocked me the most.

Emilee didn't reply, just glared at her mom until she meekly closed the door and left. When she was sure her mom was out of hearing distance she finally spoke, "yesterday, she threw all of her paints away. And when I took them out of the trash and splattered them all over our living room wall, she didn't even get angry. All she did was smile and ask if I was 'irritated' about something." And here Emilee began to cry, "I don't even know who she is anymore. She is always having these creepily polite women over, and they are always calling each other these weird names. It's like some kind of cult or something."

May and I shared an uneasy glance, the same exact thing had been happening at home. May voiced our concerns, "The same thing has happened at our house. My dad has stopped writing and my mom is always on time everywhere." To anyone else but our best friend those would have sounded like nothing, but Emilee had been our best friend since kindergarten and she knew what a big part of their character those things had been.

That night we went home two hours past our curfew and didn't get in trouble. I am perfectly convinced that May and I would have been turned into parasites right along with our little sister and our parents if Emilee hadn't woken us up that night. Emilee tapped on our window near my bed until I let her in.

"Emilee! What are you doing here?" I exclaimed sleepily.

I saw May sit up on the other side of room.

"I've figured it out! I was watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers, you know I love old horror movies—"

"I thought your mom took them all?" I cut in.

"She did, but I hid a few, anyway, our parents have been taken over by aliens! And it's not just our parents but also our teachers, and your little sister Lilly! We've all seen how grown up she's been acting!" she was speaking very quickly with the light of a new conspiracy in her eyes.

May spoke up, "Emilee…this cant be, this isn't another one of your conspiracy theories. This is our family you're talking about."

When Emilee sighs, suddenly I realize that she doesn't have the usual glint of adventure in her eyes when mentioning something out of the ordinary. I notice with anxiety that she is trembling and trying to hold back tears. "Novel…May…we have to get out of here. Before they change us."

"Whose they?" I ask.

"I don't even know, maybe the government?"

I start thinking. Thinking about all the ways that almost everyone around me has changed. When I look at May I see that she is thinking the same thing. We hop up, suddenly not tired anymore and begin to pack—"

I'm jolted awake by a sharp jab in my shoulder.

"Rise and shine, sunshine!"

I feel accosted by May's singing this early in the morning. I lay my head back down on my pillow and wipe the tears out of my eyes. I'm surprised to see them on the back of my hand—it's been a while since my dreams have brought me to tears. May sees them too and looks worried. Before she can ask about them I distract her, "what's for breakfast?"

"I'm not sure yet, but some of the others have already gone to the mess hall. I slowly rise to a standing position and stretch. I hadn't bothered to change into my pj's and I feel a little grimy. "Where's the bathroom?" I ask May.

"I saw a few people heading that way," she points the way we came through, it appears to be the only exit, "carrying their tooth brush's and what not."

As we head toward what we think is the bathroom I feel a bit of May's excitement rubbing off on me. We finally find the bathroom after three sets of directions and fifteen minutes of being lost, it appears to be a huge room with a river running through it. We both take our pajama bottoms off and sit on the edge of the river with our feet sliding through the water. This makes it easier for us to brush our teeth and wash our faces. When we finish with the necessities we braid our hair into pigtails and get dressed. We hadn't only picked out our outfits in advance for last night, but also for today and tomorrow. We weren't going to leave anything to chance.

Today, I'm wearing jeans, green low top converse that are a bit too big for me (Burns found them for me in a raid a few months back), and an old vintage Beatles T-shirt that used to be my mom's. I feel a pang of sorrow at the thought of my mother, but I quickly suppress it. I chuckle in surprise when I see May wearing an old leather belt of my dads. These are the only two articles of clothing that still fit us from when we first ran away.

"Missing the fam, huh?" I ask her.

She takes my hand and gives it a tight squeeze, "yeah. How could you tell?"

"Maybe it's the fact that we are both wearing something we hadn't planned on wearing, and that they both have memories of our parents." We laugh, even though we don't find anything remotely funny.

She sighs, "Well, ready to go hit the town?"

"Fo sho, homie." I joke.

We can hear the mess hall before we see it. The sounds of spoons hitting bowls and laughter scatter all of our previous thoughts. As I enter the mess hall I almost collide with one of the little children but manage to dodge him.

"Yumm oatmeal." I say with a smile.

I spot Burns in line for the food and make my way over to him.

"G'mornin, Burns!"

" 'Morning, Novel. Sleep well?"

"Yeah, I slept okay."

"No you didn't. I've never seen anyone toss and turn so much in my life."

I grimace and mumble something random, trying to distract him.

"What's that? You have nightmares? You tried to crawl in bed with me in the middle of the night?" he questions as if I were the one saying this absurd things.

I gasp. "I did not!"

"Oh, yes you did. I woke up with a hot little Novel body clinging to me. And mumbling something about how I'm your hero and you want to be just like me and…"

I smack his arm before he can go any further. "Dream on, buster." And then I blush. What kind of a moron still says _buster_? And then I wonder _why am I blushing_?

He just laughs and rubs his arm pretending to be hurt.

"Do you think they have brown sugar?" I inquire.

"Hopefully, I've heard its quite good with oatmeal."

"Good? Man its great."

When we actually reach the food I see that they not only have brown sugar but also butter! This is going to be one heck of a breakfast. When we both have our food Burns asks me if I want to sit with him and Wanderer. I'm a little taken aback because I just figured that we would sit together like usual, but all I do is nod. I follow him to Wanderer's table and sit next to Burns. I am introduced to three people I hadn't met before. A boy, Jamie, who looks to be about fourteen, his sister Melanie, in her early twenties, and a man named Jarred, who looks around 30. When we are done with the introductions and everyone resumes eating and making small talk Burns leans over and whispers in my ear, "Melanie was Wanderer's host body. Wanderer said that the whole time she was in there she could literally hear her yelling at her, and that sometimes she had even taken over her body completely."

"Is that normal?" I whisper back.

He puts his arm across my shoulders for easier access to my ear when he answers me and I shiver. "Not at all. She said it's rare and that it only happens with adults, never children. Ever since she told me last night I've been trying to get in touch with Evan, my host body, but I cant find him. I've never felt his presence. She even told me that she fell in love with Jarred because not only Melanie's thoughts, but also her _body,_ were in love with him."

I munch on a piece of toast as a think about _this_ and not his arm across my shoulders. "I thought she loved Ian."

"She does now. I guess their love overcame Melanie's and Jared's. And when she found a new host body she wasn't plagued by thoughts of Jarred anymore. At least that's what she says."

"Is your body in love with someone I don't know about?"

He smiles mysteriously. "Even if it were I wouldn't tell _you _Miss Nosey."

"Hey! I am not nosey. I'm just curious." But now I'm stuck wondering if he is in love with somebody. It might not even be anyone in our group; it could be some random girl out there in the world he doesn't even know. And he'll never be able to love anyone but her. Unless he finds another body. But then he wouldn't be _my_ Burns whose 6'2' and has fiery red hair that stands straight up on his head. I unconsciously narrow my eyes as I think about him loving some stupid girl who's probably a parasite.

"What's wrong with you?" I jump at May's question. I hadn't heard her approach. "Oh…nothing." I glance at Burns to see if he noticed my obvious distress and see him looking at me with an odd expression. I quickly look away before I can analyze myself too much and I can only hope that he doesn't analyze my strange behavior at all. But what am I afraid he's going to find?

I snap out of my inner musings as I notice that everyone is starting to deposit their dishes into a giant sink. I follow behind everyone and scrape the rest of my oatmeal into a colossal bag and put my bowl and spoon in the sink.

As almost everyone else heads out the door with a purpose I realize that I'm the only one who doesn't know what's going on. "Where are we going?" I whisper to May whose talking to Heidi and Trudy beside me.

"Didn't you hear Jeb? We're all going to go to the game room."

"They have games?" I imagine all fifty-nine of us sitting around in a huge circle playing duck duck goose.

"Yeah, I heard Jamie yelling something about soccer to Ian and his brother Kyle." Answers Trudy.

I feel dumb. _Of course_ we would be playing a type of sport. Not a stupid _kindergarten_ game.

When we reach the game room (which is also the room that we all slept in) the first thing I notice is that all of our bedding has been rolled and stacked against the far wall. Then I notice two makeshift goal posts on either side of the room. Soccer. I haven't played soccer since the 6th grade. And even then I wasn't on my school team I just played around with a few of my buddies.

I turn to May and find a matching look of terror on her face. I have a suspicious feeling that if we had ever made it to high school she would have been a cheerleader, but neither of us would have played soccer.

As everyone heads toward Jeb and Nate who are standing in the middle of the room they start to explain the rules. We'll split into two teams, the object of the game is to kick the ball into the goal, there will be a captain from each group of people, yadda, yadda, yadda. Everyone from Jeb's Set (as I began calling them in my head) voted Ian as a captain and everyone from my set voted Rachel as captain, which was perfect…she hates nothing more then losing.

And then the worse part…the part I hated most about school, the picking of the players.

Ian calls out, "Kyle'"

Then Rachel, "Nate"

"Wanderer"

"Melanie"

"Burns"

"Gabe"

"Trudy"

…

"The twin in the Beatles shirt." I finally get called. Third to last. The only people left are Jamie, whose three years younger than me, and a really mean looking woman named Sharon. I trot over to Ian who's the one that called me and give him a smile of gratitude. At least I wasn't _last_ and I silently thank him that I'm on the same team as Burns. Although, now I have to play against May (who got called like, five billion spots before me).

When the whistle is blown and the game begins I'm almost paralyzed with fear. I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing. I vaguely remember Ian saying something to me (or to someone around me) about defense so I head back towards the goal. When I'm thirty feet from it I stop and turn around to watch the game. Ian and Kyle are like some type of whirlwind force. I stand in aw as they kick the ball back and forth and do a whole bunch of cool foot maneuvers that I only ever remember seeing on TV. But then Brandt steals the ball from Ian and passes it to Nate and I almost cheer for joy until I realize that they're on the opposite team and are coming right towards me. I look around for anyone who can stop him instead of me in a panic. But of course, there is no one.

Nate is dribbling the ball as he runs towards me and I subconsciously start to back away. His expression is fierce. But then I hear everyone on my team calling "Novel! Get it Novel!" and I feel a burst of adrenaline in my veins. I jump forward at the last minute and kick the ball out from between his feet. I'm sure the only reason I was even able to do that was because he would never have expected me to go for the ball. I do a little jump for joy until I realize that I had kicked the ball right to May. _Where the heck is my team?? _

May stands there for a half second with her foot on the ball and looks panicked. I grimace because I know that just a few seconds ago I must have had the same exact look on my face. As I run towards her trying to make a strategy in my brain of how I'm going to get the ball from my sister I feel some huge force sweep by me. As soon as I realize that its Nate he's already a good five feet ahead of me, rescuing May from the horror of having the ball herself.

He was able to successfully turn around with the ball and he's running towards me again. _Come on. Where _is_ my team?_ Obviously this is "lets watch Novel as she makes a fool of herself in from of everyone" day. I quickly run towards Nate and try to get the ball from him again _hopefully I can distract him with the element of surprise again_. No such luck. Right when I try to kick the mall he rolls it a few inches from where it was a second ago and my foot kicks through air. I'm just about to fly into the air and land really really hard on my back when I feel two pairs of hands catch me. Burns and Wanderer are on either side of me holding onto my arms.

But only for a second, then in a flash Burns has taken the ball from Nate and is practically flying across the field. Wanderer is running along beside him trying to get the ball from him at every moment. Meanwhile I'm bending over with my hands on my knees, panting. I can't even remember the last time I ran. I can't even remember the last time I had enough _space_ to run.

I hear a loud amount of cheering and look up just in time to see Burns make a goal. "Yeah!" he literally jumps up with his fist in the air. I can see his smile even from across the field. He lands on the ground with his knees slightly bent and as he straightens he looks at me and smiles. Right into my heart.

**A/N ah! What do you think of it?? I wanted to do a bit more background. And don't think that this is just a "Burns and Novel romance" nothing is that easy. Bahahah.**

**So do you like it? Hate it? Was this chapter weak? Please review. I love constructive critism.**

**And thank you SO much to my four reviewers. It means so much :**


	3. Unwanted Confusion

Chapter Three

Unwanted Confusion

"…and then when he kissed me the night of the rains, I knew he still loved me." Finished Wanda.

"That…is so romantic." Sniffed May.

Wanderer had just got done telling us almost the whole entire story of her life as Melanie. She made Melanie sound like a fierce warrior/ angel but all I could see was the warrior half. Melanie didn't seem like the type of girl who had many girlfriends and indeed the only girl she would even _almost_ giggle with was Wanda. They were like sisters, almost as close as May and I.

"Do you still have feelings for Jarred?" inquired May.

Wanda's tiny face frowned, "you know, I don't anymore. At first it was confusing…having a memory of a love for him. But all I have to do is think about Ian and I know that he is the man for me. He's the man I want to be with always."

May started to snuffle again. She's such a _hopeless romantic_. "Do you think we'll ever find that love, Novel?" she asks turning to me.

I put my arm around her, "of course we will May. We just haven't found those guys yet." I tried to comfort her, but I didn't even know myself if I would find a perfect companion like Wanda and Melanie had. She saw through my week assurances.

"It's never going to happen!" she wailed.

I don't know what _she_ is complaining about. Guys tend to fall all over her. I don't know why they don't fall all over _me _when we look exactly the same. I suppose it's the fact that she has such a…a cute personality. Whereas, I, am just a nerd I guess. We've been here four days and three nights and she's already got Brandt, Travis, and Stanley fallowing her around like lost puppies.

In fact, they were on the other side of the 'library' fooling around and being inappropriately loud while casting wistful eyes at May (and me when they couldn't tell who was who as we were wearing matching clothes today). But they weren't the only ones in the library with Wanda, May and I. Jamie, Melanie's little brother, and Sebastian from our set were also in the library trying to find books for their schooling. Sebastian was required to go to school with Jamie and Isaiah while he was here. May and I had been let of the hook, we were considered 'seniors' by Kim, our teacher, and she didn't expect us to actually work while we were here.

I was jolted out of my thoughts when Burns, Ian, Kyle (who looked like Ian's twin, which was exciting), and Sunny (the other soul) came into the small room full of books. Sunny was holding tightly to Kyle's hand with a frightened expression. I had never seen her more then two inches from him except for once when I passed her on the way out of the bathroom. I had been wondering why Kyle was waiting on the outside of the entrance until I saw her. She seemed nice enough, but I had a feeling that she would possibly annoy me if she ever got far enough from the foreboding Kyle to have a conversation.

Although, no one annoyed me as much as _Lacy_. I grit my teeth just thinking about her. I could see her always following Burns with her eyes—a hungry expression on her face. If she touched him…I don't know what I would do. But it wouldn't be pretty. When they came in May visibly wiped her tears away and straightened up. I had a feeling that, as Brandt came so easily to her, she now had a slight crush on Kyle. Although I don't know how when he had a permanent growth attached to him by the name of Sunny.

Ian sat down beside Wanda and unconsciously took her hand. The look of pure unadulterated love they gave each other brought tears to even _my_ eyes. Burns sat down next to me and when I looked up at him I knew I still had tears in my eyes. "What's wrong, Novel?"

I was too embarrassed to tell him that I was feeling romantic, sad, and a little bit hopeless all at the same time. So I blamed my crying on a book like I always do. "This book…is just so sad." I could feel May penetrating my mind with her twin mind reading powers and I silently tried to block her from my thoughts. We both looked down at the book I am holding in my hands. It's called An Abundance of Katherine's by John Green and while it is a very good book about a genius that loses his girlfriend…it is in no way crying material. I scowl. Why can't I be reading Gone With the Wind or Lets Get Lost, which are both books that I weep multiple times every single time I read them.

He looks confused for he was the one who found An Abundance of Katherine's for me. I knew that he knew that I knew that he knew that that's not what I was crying about. May clears her throat to try to break the tension and starts a conversation about the festivities for the evening. So far, we had had one big activity each day we've been here. The first day we had the party, the second we played soccer, the third us girls (the boys _acted_ like they hadn't wanted to join in) had a sort of bartering garage sale. We all put the clothes we didn't want anymore and traded. May and I were both able to get some really cool things. Apparently Wanda was more enthusiastic about getting clothes for her group while she was on a raid then Burns and the boys were.

While they talked I fidgeted with my new belt (it was rainbow! Although some of the colored studs were missing) while I thought. I don't understand why I am being so emotional. A moment ago I was fine and scoffing at May for being a hopeless romantic. And I see one look between two lovers and I'm crying in front everybody. I have to talk to somebody about this. I can't go around feeling so emotional and lost all the time, it can't be good for me. I look at May and silently communicate that I need to talk. She gets it and gives a slight nod.

We make our excuses and leave making our way to our sleeping quarters. No one is usually in the big room unless there is an activity or its time for sleep. When we reach it May pulls our mat down from the wall and I pull Burn's down and we sit facing each other.

"Novel what's wrong?"

"I don't even know anymore May. Its like, one moment I'll be perfectly fine and then the next I'll be on the brink of crying."

She laughs, "oh, Novel! That's nothing. I've felt like that every day of my life."

That didn't make me feel any better. She sensed that and started chuckling a bit, "just because you might cry a few times doesn't mean that you are any weaker of a person then you were a few weeks ago. You are still one of the strongest people I know Novel. Ask anyone and they will agree with me that you are definitely a person to be respected and taken seriously."

"I guess," this was hard for me to admit even to the person I loved the most in the world, "I guess I'm just feeling kind of…unlikable."

Now she actually does laugh out loud. "Unlikable? You? Don't be stupid. Haven't you seen Stanley staring at you these past few days? He doesn't even have the courage to introduce himself to you."

This thought doesn't cheer me up; Stanley…can only be described as "immature"; even at nineteen. "Oh. I thought he liked you?" I end my statement as a question.

"No…thank goodness. It's bad enough that Brandt and Travis keep following me around."

I grimace. I had thought that talking to May would make me feel better but it hadn't. I didn't feel like talking about my emotional problems anymore, it just seemed to be making them worse. So I sat up straighter smiled and somehow convinced her that I was feeling better. I knew what I really needed though, was some alone time with my other best friend. When she is finally half convinced I'm feeling better I send her back to the others with the promise that she will at least _try_ to give Travis a chance.

When I was sure she was gone I rummaged through my bag until I reached the bottom and pulled my favorite book in the whole world out. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer had been read so many times over the past few years since I found it that the front cover was almost entirely off and some of the words had been smudged out long ago by my fingertips. It didn't matter if some of the words were missing though; I knew almost the whole book by heart.

The light coming through the roof of the cave was the perfect amount of light for reading and I settled down for a long read. I skipped today's festivities along with dinner and fell asleep while I was reading.

I was woken up when everyone else came in for bed. May had lay down on our mat next to ours and Burns tried to gently nudge me awake to move me off of his mat so he could lay down.

"mmmnooo" I protest still three fourths asleep.

"shh. Novel, honey, I need you to crawl over to your sister's mat so I can get some sleep." Burns whispers in my ear while putting slight pressure on my back.

"Noo. I'm too tired." I mumble unintelligently and press myself further against the wall.

"What was that? Listen, if you don't move over then I'm just going to squeeze in next to you and you will be uncomfortable and squished all night. I'm going to count to three. One…"

I didn't move.

"Two…"

I still didn't move. By now I was awake enough to crawl the few feet to the cot I shared with my sister but for some reason I didn't want to. I blamed this on the perfectly comfortable position I had found myself in. The sudden complete blackness of all the lanterns being turned out was noticeable even through my closed eyelids.

"Three. Alright you asked for it." His hand leaves my back and I can feel him lay down next to me. He's so much taller then me that his feet hang six inches off the mat so he has to tuck his knees a little to keep then off the cold ground. To do this he has to mold his body to mine to give us both room. His hand hesitantly slides across my waste to rest against my stomach pulling me a little closer to him.

I am definitely not asleep anymore and my breathing is a little jagged. Can he feel my heart beating five times too fast? I can feel his against my back. The warmth radiating from his chest into my back is making me tremble a little. Every single spot his body is touching mine my skin is tingling. I don't understand why I'm feeling like this. I've had to share close sleeping quarters with Burns before and I've never been…so aware of every single part of his body.

His head is directly behind mine and I can feel his light warm breath on the back of my neck. I can smell the comforting smell of parchment and something, well, _Burns-y_ that I've always associated with him. But now it wasn't just _comfortable_ it was _intoxicating_. His hand slowly moves from my stomach to lightly glide up my arm and into my hair. He slowly starts to run his fingers through my hair and a shiver runs through my whole body.

I suddenly realize that he thinks I'm asleep! I know Burns would never touch me like this if he thought I was awake. He's way to proper. Does this mean that he might…like me? I realize now that I have always had feelings for him. But I had just tied them to a crush I always got on my guy friends. But now, with his hand in my hair and his body against my back I realize that this is definitely something more then just a crush.

After a few minutes of him wonderfully, blissfully running his finger through my hair he glides his hand back down my arm and rests it once more on my stomach, finding my hand and entwining it in his big one. I have never felt so safe as I do now lodged between Burns and the cave wall. I feel almost…complete.

I try to slyly turn around as if I'm sleeping and press my face against his chest. He immediately shifts to accommodate me and raps his arms around my back. After a few more moments we are both asleep.

**A/N: what did you think? Please please tell me guys! And tell me what you want/don't want and I'll consider it for the next few chapters! Even though I already know what I want to happen for the next chapter bahaha (I just laughed evilly by the way) in mind. Thank you so much to my wonderful beautiful perfect reviewers so far!**


	4. Oh Em Gee

Oh Em Gee

"But I don't see why you both have to go." I know I sound like a whiny child, but the thought of Burns going on a raid scares me.

"I told you Novel, we're going to pretend to be married. No one would ever suspect partnered souls who are so obviously on vacation. And plus, this isn't a normal raid just for supplies, we're going to try to find more humans." He ends his sentence with a light nudge to my chin. Trying to cheer me up with the thought of more survivors. It doesn't work, but I smile anyway.

"Okay. But just, be careful, you know? I don't know what I would do without my best friend." My eyes fill with tears that I try to sniff away. I'm thankful Burns and I are in the library alone, and don't have an audience.

"Novel, you know perfectly well that nothing is going to happen to me. I've gone on raids a thousand times before this. I'm an expert." His fingers rap around my chin and he tilts my head up, toward his. I want so badly for him to kiss me. Ever since I woke up this morning wrapped in his arms I could practically see the sparks between us.

Instead, he kisses my forehead and whispers "take care of yourself. Please." He ends the moment with a quick hug and then leaves me alone in the library. I sink down to the floor and rest my head on the bookshelf behind me. I can't lie to myself. What bothers me almost more then him being in danger is the fact that he has to pretend to be married to Wanda. Wanda who is beautiful and makes you want to protect her no matter what. Wanda who has way more in common with him then I do.

The only consolation I have is that Ian is going with them, along with Nate, Rachel, Lacy, Jamie, and Sebastion. Although, now that I think about it I should be more worried about Lacy sticking her creepy claws into Burns, then Wanda.

I stand up when I see May walk into the library. I knew it was only a matter of time before she would come looking for me.

"November! What is going on between you and Burns? And why haven't you told me how you felt about him?"

"What do you mean?" I feign naivety even though I know I am hopeless at lying to my twin.

"You slept with him." She hisses at me.

I laugh. "Its not like I _slept_ slept with him May! You know that. We were in a crowded room. Plus, he won't even kiss me. Obviously I'm repulsive to every single male in the world."

She laughs, "I didn't mean _that_! But what do you mean he didn't kiss you? That's why I left you two in here to say goodbye."

"Well, does the forehead count?"

"Sorry, but no, it doesn't."

"What I don't understand is when did everyone even decide to go on a raid?"

"Last night during dinner. All of the adults were discussing when we would return to our home, but it was obvious no one _really_ wanted to leave anytime soon. So, the fact that we needed more supplies was brought up and then of course anytime the word 'supplies' is mentioned, raids are the next conversation topic.

"Wanda started telling everyone about how she acts like a regular soul and is able to get much more then just average stealing like our set does. Burns felt like an idiot for not thinking about the fact that he has the perfect disguise and doesn't have to hide like the rest of us."

"I can't believe Sebastian gets to go on his first raid before us! He's only _fifteen_!"

"I know but when he heard that Jamie had already been on a raid he started flipping out." May said with an eye role.

"Whatever. Next raid I _am_ going. I am so mad at myself for being anti social yesterday. I'm positive that if I had been at dinner I would have convinced them to take me with them. And anyway, they promised to let me go on the next one!"

I was surprised when instead of hearing support from May, I heard silence.

I stopped walking and looked around to see that she had stopped a good three feet behind me. "What's wrong May?"

"You don't," her voice broke. She cleared her throat and tried again, "you don't _really_ want to go on raids do you?"

I'm confused. _Doesn't_ she? "Of course I do! I've been waiting for my chance to go for the last few years. I want to leave our stupid cave and be able to go outside. I want to find supplies to feed and clothe our family. And I want to find more humans so we can finally take our world back from those damn parasites!"

"No. I wont let you Novel. The thought of you leaving me…and going out there, _into all that danger_. I wouldn't have any family left if something happened to you." She's close to tears. I walk back until I'm even with her and put my arm around her.

"Well, you could come with me."

She chuckles a bit, "hah. The thought of me going out there? And being all adventuress. No way. You're the brave twin."

"Me?? I'm the socially awkward shy twin. You're the one who can meet new people and immediately be their best friend without a hint of fear."

She snorts. "Yeah, as if meeting a new person is a test for bravery at all."

"Trust me, it is. I've always been jealous of your bubbly personality, the way you can talk to anyone…I've been envious my whole life."

"November…I should probably tell you before someone else does. They wanted you to go with them. They said your name like it was the obvious the choice to let you go, but I convinced them not to bring you. So they chose lacy instead."

"What?" anger was suddenly coursing through me and I removed my arm from around her shoulders, stepping back. "WHY?" I knew I was yelling but I couldn't care less. "Now they're all gone and Burns is going to act like he's married to Wanda. And Lacy is going! Lacy who never takes her snotty eyes off of him!"

May started crying. But this time her tears wouldn't work on me. The thought of Burns going on a raid that was going to be unusually long _and_ unusually dangerous without me, _when I had the chance to go_, was more then I could handle. "Oh, shut up May! Save your tears for someone who actually cares."

Because those on the raid were expected to be gone for at least three weeks, everyone was assigned rooms. When shown to our rooms we discovered Jeb's cave system to be bigger then we had originally thought. Of course, May and I were assigned the same room. And even though I may have grumbled about it to her face, I was secretly glad to not have to sleep alone.

Our room was a small, but comfortable one. We each had our own mattress, but we shared the one dresser and toy chest. We couldn't actually open the chest, there was a heavy padlock on it and I hadn't been bothered to break it open yet. Instead, we pushed the chest against a wall, put cushions on it, and used it as a comfortable (albeit very small) couch. May had somehow got her hands on a few fashion magazines from _before _and filled our walls with photos of beautiful women in strange frocks and even more beautiful men in multi-colored suits.

Two weeks after Burns left I found myself if not _technically_ angry at May, at least still annoyed. I had blown off her few attempts at an apology the first few days, until she had gotten angry with _me_ for not forgiving her and 'seeing her side of things'. I hadn't actually had time to dwell on whether or not I was still angry; I grudgingly _could_ kind of see her side of the story. I was so busy with work (gardening, cleaning, cooking, etc) and having to resume school again with Mrs. Kim (we had finals coming up, as if it mattered if I passed them or something) I was exhausted by the time I got to my room at night. May and I wouldn't have talked very much even if we had been on speaking terms.

I wake up this morning like every morning of the past two weeks—with hope. Maybe Burns will come home today. Two weeks is enough time to get supplies, find a human or two, and return. I stand up to stretch with a yawn. I meet Mays eyes mid stretch and glare. She glares back. She could at least _pretend_ to be sorry that I may lose Burns because of her. What if Lacy has convinced him that he likes her? What if one of the humans he finds is a former super model?

I shake these thoughts away and head to the bathroom to take a shower before school. School! Who needs school when there is no chance of going to college or getting a job? I've pretty much learned everything that I've needed to. I have a suspicion that the only reason May and I have to finish our 'senior' year is to give the adults a since of accomplishment and a false feeling of normalcy. As I brush my teeth I seriously consider skipping school (who wants to be in a room alone with May, Mrs. Kim, and a chalkboard 5 hours a day?).

But as I walk back to my room to put my shoes on I know that I'm not actually going to skip school. I haven't actually done it—ever, but Nate is always threatening to punish us if we "don't take our school studies seriously". Then again…Nate isn't here. That's it, I'm skipping. When I arrive in my room I pass May carrying her toiletries. But where to go? The Library will be the first place they'll look for me.

I grimace, if I were a normal teenager in the life I should have had I could drive to the mall, go see a movie, even go to a park. I wander around the cave system trying to find something to do when I hear shrieking.

"They're back! They're back!"

I can't tell which direction Trudy's voice is coming from due to the horrible side effect of echoing whenever anything is shouted, but I assume its coming from the dining hall which is where the returnees would go first. I have to stop myself from flat out running. My heart is beating a mile a minute at the thought of Burns being back. _My_ Burns. As I round the corner to the dining room I can feel the big cheesy grin on my face but I don't even care. The first returnee I see is Lacy, then Jamie, Sebastian, Nate, Rachel…where's Burns?

My smile slides off my face when I notice everyone else's pained expressions. I tune into the conversation.

"…That stupid snotty girl hadn't ruined the whole plan they would be here right now!" Rachel is shouting about Lacy too Lacy.

"It wasn't my fault!" retorts Lacy.

"Oh yes it is you evil cow! You couldn't stand the fact that you weren't needed. You complained the whole time we were gone!"

"BE QUIET!" A yell from Kyle cuts off Lacy's retort.

Kyle continues, "Where is my brother, Nate?"

Nate rubs his eyes and sighs, "We're not sure Kyle. We were on our last raid over in Flagstaff, it was supposed to be a simple one. Wanda and Burns went into the Barnes and Noble exactly like they had every other store we had went into previously. We hadn't even realized Lacy was gone until she was running towards us. Apparently she was 'trying' to help us and went into the store after Wanda and Burns. She was spotted by a seeker who happened to be in the store at the same time. Wanda and Burns were able to distract the seeker long enough for Lacy to get out of the store. When she told us what happened Ian immediately ran in after them.

"The rest of us were still trying to find a way to get in there without being detected when they came out of the store…handcuffed. We heard the seeker on the phone with another one, she mentioned that she was going to take them to the nearest hospital. Apparently, getting a soul into Ian was paramount."

"Did she mention which hospital?" asked Kyle.

"Flagstaff Medical Center…"  
I didn't need to hear anymore.

I backed out of the room without anyone noticing and ran straight to my room. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I knew I had to do something.

When I reached my room my prayer for it to be empty was answered. May must have been in the Dining Hall with everyone else. I sat on my bed for a second to think. If I was going to do what my body wanted me to do then I would _need_ a plan. I didn't have one. I checked my watch 11:35. I probably only had seven minutes before May came looking for me, she would be worried. I grimaced at the thought that I would have to leave her, especially with us in a fight. But she wouldn't be able to handle doing something as crazy as I was planning on doing. I quickly dumped all of my schoolbooks out of my backpack and filled it with two outfits and my toiletry kit. I would need food and water.

I was hoping the kitchen was empty and it was. I had found a camel pack in one of the supply closets and now filled it with water as much as it would hold. I packed my backpack with granola bars, leftover steaks from the night before, a bag of cookies, and as many apples and oranges as would fit.

Right when I forced the zipper closed I heard the footsteps of people coming in the kitchen. I dove behind one of the big cabinets praying they wouldn't look my way.

"…and this is the kitchen honey, make yourself at home and eat anything you want. I'm going to go back into the dining room and see if anyone comes up with a plan. I'll come and find you in a few minutes to show you to the room that Lilly and Heidi are setting up for you." Said Trudy.

"Thank you." Whispered a voice I didn't recognize.

I heard the mysterious person banging around in cabinets, opening and closing drawers, and rifling through the refrigerator. I started to panic when I heard his footsteps coming near the shelf I was hiding behind. His footsteps slowed to a stop. After a few moments of silence I peaked around the cereal box my head was hiding behind and came face to face with a very confused looking boy. I'm sure he would have screamed if his mouth hadn't been full to the brim with apple.

Even so, he quickly backed away and tripped over a chair falling on his but. Before he could finish chewing and scream I ran out from behind the shelf and knelt next to him.

"Oh no! Are you okay? I didn't mean to scare you, I was just trying to hide."

He mumbled something unintelligible. "Um, what?" I asked.

He finally swallowed, "I'm sorry, I was just hungry."

"Its okay. As long as you don't tell anyone that you saw me in here okay? At least not for a few hours."

"Why?"

I sighed. I supposed it was natural for him to wonder why but I didn't have time for this guy's curiosity.

I decided to do the obvious thing and lie, "I'm playing hide and go seek."

He raised an eyebrow. It was obvious I was lying. "Okay, I'm not playing hide and go seek! I'm trying to get out of here without anyone knowing so I can go find Burns, Wanda, and Ian. Its my fault they're gone and I know I can save them…somehow."

"How is it your fault? You weren't even there."

"I know, but they were in a bookstore right? I'm sure Burns was trying to buy me some books because I never shut up about how much I wanted some new ones. If he hadn't gone in there he would have been back here along with everyone else. And even if it hadn't been my fault…I would have went after him anyway."

"Well, its just as much my fault as it is yours." At my skeptical look he continued, "They were trying to find more humans weren't they? They found me."

I didn't have time to convince this boy that it wasn't his fault, it was mine. "sure, sure. Just don't tell anyone you saw me."

"Okay I wont." I started to stand up until I heard him say, "Because I'm going with you."

"What?" I hissed.

"Listen, either you take me with you or I call out right now."

I glared at him. He sucked in breath to yell. "Okay! Okay. You can come. But you have to hurry up do you understand? You wont have time to pack anything…" I was depending on this last sentence to dissuade him.

He smiled triumphantly and jumped up, offering his hand to me, "That's okay. I'm already packed. We just got here remember?" He gestured to a backpack sitting on the chair he had just tripped over. Equipped with a camel back and all.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad taking another person with me. Plus, maybe he had some tricks up his sleeve to help us out. I for sure was lost as to how were going to get to Flagstaff let alone save Burns, Wanda, and Ian who may or may not have been turned into a parasite by now.

**AUTHORS NOTE: I'm a failure! I'm sorry it took so long for me to update. But here it is! So yeah, now it's really getting exciting. Lots and lots of adventure coming up :D:D:D:D  
and thank you thank you thank you to all of my wonderamazing reviewers!**


End file.
